media update’s Aisling McCarthy delves into the future of AI, and how it will make humans better.

Contrary to what many people think, humans play an integral role in the AI process. Although many people fear that AI will replace humans in the workplace, it will actually allow us to become better at what we do.

"Creating better humans will always be more important than creating smarter machines,” said Deep Thinking author, Garry Kasperov, at an AI conference in 2017.

Developments in technology aim to make humans better at their jobs, and make their jobs easier for them, rather than wiping them out completely. With this in mind, AI and humans have very different strengths.

However, the combination of the two can yield powerful results. The combination of AI and human-power is referred to as ‘intelligence augmentation’.

Here’s three ways that AI will make us better humans:

1. No more repetitive tasks. No more repetitive tasks. No more repetitive tasks

When it comes to dealing with large data sets, algorithms can sift through information and pull out insights, outliers, or a particular value. It can do this with speed and accuracy that humans simply can’t match. AI’s don’t mind boring tasks – and they don’t get tired.

This means that repetitive, mundane tasks will be taken over by AI, allowing humans to focus on more complicated tasks. For example, if an algorithm sifts through large data sets to find outliers, humans can focus on figuring out why there are outliers.

2. Humans can focus more on emotional and creative work

With AI taking over the mundane tasks, humans will be left to do the things that machines can’t. When it comes to black and white issues, machines are great, but they cannot deal with any of the ambiguous, grey areas.

Humans will be able to channel their efforts into emotional and creative tasks that machines cannot be programmed to do.

For example, a salesperson can use emotional and creative strategies to get a consumer to buy a product. AI gives them data about each specific consumer, allowing them to offer consumers a far more personal interaction.

For people in the creative space, AI will assist by showing them the kinds of things that consumers respond to. This can be especially useful for creatives in the marketing industry, who can use AI to know what a specific target market likes, but use their creativity to come up with the campaign.
Interested in finding out more about AI? Find out more in our article, 10 AI terms every marketer should know.

3. AI can give humans ‘super-intelligence’

Thanks to AI, humans will have instant access to data – on command. As more of the world becomes digitised and automated, the demand for critical-thinking humans will increase. More jobs that require analysis and thought will be available – and those won’t only be white collar jobs.

“Robots and AI won't be fixing your plumbing or building skyscrapers. But, they will provide those workers with data that can help them work faster, more efficiently, and more safely,” says Jason Hiner in an article for ZD Net.

Think about it – having instant access to information will allow humans to perform tasks much quicker, and far more accurately. In media, for example, AI is being used to generate articles that report on things systematically (like sport scores). This allows human journalists to focus on articles with humour, satire, and in-depth analysis.

Human jobs being taken over my machines is nothing new – it is the history of human civilisation. Manual labour has already been largely replaced by machines, so the implementation of AI should not be feared.

“This is what progress has always looked like – technology takes jobs and disrupts industries before it creates new jobs and new opportunities we cannot even imagine,” says Hiner.

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The development of AI technology is allowing companies the opportunity to provide customers with a more personal experience. Find out more about these developments in our article, Why AI and chatbots will positively impact Africa.